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What grinds your gears?

Public, private, faith, grammar, comprehensive - they're all just labels. What matters are the individual teachers and how well they can relate to thirty or so individuals going through the chaos of puberty, most of whom they'll only work with for five or six hours a week.

It's a good idea if those checkouts are manned/wommaned by pensioners who draw their government pension, still have their marbles, and do the job for pin-plonk money at half the minimum wage; not to let the supermarket use cheap labour, but for the other half of the wage to go to a local registered charity of the employees's choice. Hours of business at these terminals to be those for whch the terminals would be out of use (so it doesn't cost the supermarket a penny). That's fair. The throughput would be probably somewhat less than a normally staffed throughput.
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I started writing this post flipently. But actually I think that it could work very well. Minimum wage legislation would be an obstacle but that could be resolved eventually.

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I suspect that there is one potential flaw in your scheme - the pensioner check-out lanes would be hogged by the same morons who, not being elderly nor disabled, park their cars in the disabled parking spaces just to save a few metres walking.

I suspect that there is one potential flaw in your scheme - the pensioner check-out lanes would be hogged by the same morons who, not being elderly nor disabled, park their cars in the disabled parking spaces just to save a few metres walking.

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I saw a car park in the parent and child bay the other day. A young woman got out with her child, who must have 11 or 12. Yes, she was a child, but I think that was really taking the mick.

I saw a car park in the parent and child bay the other day. A young woman got out with her child, who must have 11 or 12. Yes, she was a child, but I think that was really taking the mick.

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Then again, Frances and her mother did the same once. Her mother was in her 80s, and Frances was recovering from cancer surgery in her 50s..

Quite honestly, I get p'd off with perfectly fit, healthy young women and their bursting-with-energy children having reserved parking spaces, when people who are more or less incapacitated by illness or age are expected to park elsewhere in order to accommodate them. When Frances had PPR we decided not to get a disabled badge (she was eligible) because we expected her to recover (as she did) and by the time we'd been through the bureaucracy needed to get the badge, she'd probably no longer have needed it. It turned out we were over-optimistic, but only by a couple of months. What is really needed is short-term, dated disabled parking badges; a form of prescription.

A few months ago, though, I saw the classic Porsche-in-a-disabled-bay -- and I also saw the driver roll up in his wheel chair, ease himself into the Porsche, fold the chair and stow it beside him.

Then again, Frances and her mother did the same once. Her mother was in her 80s, and Frances was recovering from cancer surgery in her 50s..

Quite honestly, I get p'd off with perfectly fit, healthy young women and their bursting-with-energy children having reserved parking spaces, when people who are more or less incapacitated by illness or age are expected to park elsewhere in order to accommodate them. When Frances had PPR we decided not to get a disabled badge (she was eligible) because we expected her to recover (as she did) and by the time we'd been through the bureaucracy needed to get the badge, she'd probably no longer have needed it. It turned out we were over-optimistic, but only by a couple of months. What is really needed is short-term, dated disabled parking badges; a form of prescription.

A few months ago, though, I saw the classic Porsche-in-a-disabled-bay -- and I also saw the driver roll up in his wheel chair, ease himself into the Porsche, fold the chair and stow it beside him.

Cheers,

R.

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Totally agree with this. The idea behind wider, bigger spaces for mother and baby/toddler, is for them to have more room to open doors, get buggies out etc. This does not render them incapable of walking, so why do these wider spaces have to be near the shop? Completely baffles me and always has!

Maybe I'm in a minority here, but I find it hard to get worked up about mother and child bays. I'm also fine with there being a whole host of disabled bays sitting empty because most people are fit enough not to need them and despite the fact that they take up spaces which these fit people could use. Honestly, I can't be bothered finding new things to be miserable about.

It's a good idea if those checkouts are manned/wommaned by pensioners who draw their government pension, still have their marbles, and do the job for pin-plonk money at half the minimum wage; not to let the supermarket use cheap labour, but for the other half of the wage to go to a local registered charity of the employees's choice. Hours of business at these terminals to be those for whch the terminals would be out of use (so it doesn't cost the supermarket a penny). That's fair. The throughput would be probably somewhat less than a normally staffed throughput.
If I got the staff discount then I would probably be wanting a pensioner's job on those terms. It could be quite rewarding. Charming the old dears, doing something useful, buying the extra bottle or two of something better than plonk on staff discount, putting a bit of cash to a couple of local charities which I already support with my labour, and even maybe increasing my direct debit to a very worthy educational charity which many of you lefties would hate.

I started writing this post flipently. But actually I think that it could work very well. Minimum wage legislation would be an obstacle but that could be resolved eventually.

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I don't think you have thought this through properly.
As soon as someone starts working, even if they are drawing a pension, they have to: Pay into a pension scheme, pay national insurance, pay additional income tax. There are also employers contributions to consider.
This would all very effectively make it expensive to employ pensioners for this work and may make it uneconomic for pensioners to take it on.
Next, what are the unions going to say, these pensioners would be taking jobs from younger people.
Sorry but I don't think this would work at all.

I don't think you have thought this through properly.
As soon as someone starts working, even if they are drawing a pension, they have to: Pay into a pension scheme, pay national insurance, pay additional income tax. There are also employers contributions to consider.
This would all very effectively make it expensive to employ pensioners for this work and may make it uneconomic for pensioners to take it on.
Next, what are the unions going to say, these pensioners would be taking jobs from younger people.
Sorry but I don't think this would work at all.

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No national insurance if you are drawing your OAP. I know that for a fact.

Can't let the opportunity pass to witter on about one of my favourite gripes. People who don't signal properly when driving.

It seems to be on the increase, one symptom is that they don't indicate when changing lanes on motorways, but, in particular, they don't signal left on leaving a roundabout. (In addition, the number of people I see indicating right while turning left at a roundabout exit beggars belief, are they brain dead?)

I have to say that lorry drivers are almost exempt from criticism here, it's the folk in cars who either don't understand the requirement, or are too bone idle or selfish to let other road users know their intentions. Should be flogged....

Can't let the opportunity pass to witter on about one of my favourite gripes. People who don't signal properly when driving.

It seems to be on the increase, one symptom is that they don't indicate when changing lanes on motorways, but, in particular, they don't signal left on leaving a roundabout. (In addition, the number of people I see indicating right while turning left at a roundabout exit beggars belief, are they brain dead?)

I have to say that lorry drivers are almost exempt from criticism here, it's the folk in cars who either don't understand the requirement, or are too bone idle or selfish to let other road users know their intentions. Should be flogged....

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I have come to the conclusion that indicators must be an item in the options list of car manufacturers. Professional drivers, those where the job requires training and a test before being let loose alone in a specific vehicle group are generally better than car drivers in this respect, but there are exceptions.

Can't let the opportunity pass to witter on about one of my favourite gripes. People who don't signal properly when driving.

It seems to be on the increase, one symptom is that they don't indicate when changing lanes on motorways, but, in particular, they don't signal left on leaving a roundabout. (In addition, the number of people I see indicating right while turning left at a roundabout exit beggars belief, are they brain dead?)

I have to say that lorry drivers are almost exempt from criticism here, it's the folk in cars who either don't understand the requirement, or are too bone idle or selfish to let other road users know their intentions. Should be flogged....

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It's oh so strenuous having to stretch a finger to activate the blinker, and in any case, my smartphone conversation is much more important than blinking, observing traffic signs and so on...................OK, sarcasm OFF!